I must respectfully disagree with some of the comments Maurice Frank made in "Death of the Database?" (DBMS, March 1998). He pointed out the problems that the major database vendors have been having but failed to mention what to me seems to be the most significant reason their sales have been dropping.
Surely these database vendors realize that the majority of companies in the world are small businesses. These are the companies that thrive, expand, grow, and continue to push the economy. The Fortune 500 companies continue to merge, consolidate, and downsize. By definition, this trend means there will be fewer "big clients" to go around and more "little clients."
Despite this, each of the major database vendors has continued to search, cater to, and pamper the large companies of the world while virtually ignoring the little guy. The company I work for has been a long-time Informix customer, as are several of the companies I have consulted for. Each of these relatively small companies became disenchanted by the service, cost, and lack of support it received from this major provider. Just because a $30 million company will buy only one copy of Informix every four years doesn't mean it should wait two days for technical support or receive a 50 to 100 percent cost increase in the maintenance contract every two years.
This lack of service for the small- to midsized client has caused us to go elsewhere. We are flexible enough to switch to a PC or Web-based platform, if we feel it is cost effective. If some of the large vendors would actually target the small- to midsized business, they would not only see their sales increase in the short term but would ensure future business because these same clients will come calling again as their businesses grow.
By the way, your magazine is very informative and has kept me "in the loop" of the DBMS world. I am thankful that it exists and hope to continue to read it for years to come.
Daniel Wynalda
danielw@wybbs.mi.org
I agree that small- and mid-sized businesses are a potentially rich source of additional growth for database vendors. Windows NT will do well in these markets, so this platform will become a fierce battleground for future RDBMS server sales. Another trend that reinforces your view is the increased attention ERP vendors (such as SAP) are paying to the middle market.
ý Maurice Frank
Editor-in-Chief
As part owner of a small commercial ISP, I found Kurt Indermauer's February 1998 cover story, "Assessing Java for Electronic Commerce," to be very informative and concise. I was also pleased by the open-standard overtones that mean the client comes out the real winner.
Maurie Lippincott
Monk Inc.
mpl@monkinc.com